Judge sets $2 million bond for suspect

A Lakewood man warned 911 that he was lying in wait with guns outside his home "ready to kill a bunch of people."

KMGH

Gordon Lee Moench

Lakewood P.D.

Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LAKEWOOD, Colo. - In a 911 call, a Lakewood man warned that he was lying in wait with three guns in his pickup outside his home "ready to kill a bunch of people," before he shot two Lakewood police officers with a semiautomatic rifle when they responded to the call.

"The call taker asks Gordon why he wants to hurt people and he stated, 'Good question ... I tell you what, you'll find out when you get here,'" the newly released arrest affidavit states.

The chilling account of the Saturday night shootout that left the two officers and the gunman wounded was revealed in the affidavit for 54-year-old Gordon Moench Jr. The document became public after he made a video court appearance on Tuesday, where a Jefferson County judge set his bond at $2 million.

Moench, who had been shot in the chest by a third responding officer, was sitting in a wheelchair during Tuesday's court appearance. Moench was transferred to the Jefferson County Jail on Monday evening after spending two days in the hospital.

He faces of two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault on a police officer and felony menacing involving a weapon. He has not been formally charged.

The shooting happened after a despondent Moench spent the Fourth of July holiday arguing with his wife and teen stepson, and he was sure she was leaving him, the affidavit said. Moench, a diabetic, later told police that he had attempted to kill himself by injecting an overdose of his insulin medication on Friday night, but it didn't work.

On Saturday night, Moench continued his emotional spiral as he argued more with his wife, 18-year-old stepson and the stepson's friend. Moench later told investigators from his hospital bed that he "felt very disrespected by the entire group."

--'I'll be dead by morning'--

After the boys left, Moench talked briefly with his wife, Audrey, and "agreed the marriage between them was not going to work. Gordon said he told Audrey she needed to leave the house.

'I'll be dead by morning," he told her, according to the affidavit.

He also told his wife that he planned to "commit suicide by cop." He went upstairs to a gun cabinet and armed himself with an SKS semiautomatic rifle, a 30-round magazine for the rifle, a .44-caliber revolver and a shotgun, the affidavit said.

Fearing for her safety, Audrey Moench fled the house and called 911 at 9:41 p.m. She told a 911 operator that she and her husband were separating, and he told her he no longer wanted to live. She added that he was a diabetic who had been prescribed anti-depressants.

The wife warned the operator that "Gordon told her that if she called police there was going to be 'be a battle' and said Gordon had access to several firearms."

Audrey hung up, but soon called 911 back to say her husbanded had texted his stepson that "he was going to kill him," the affidavit said. "Audrey expressed concern for the responding officers due to Gordon's access to firearms and mental state."

Moench later told police that he texted the death-threat to his stepson to draw police to his home, where officers would kill the gunman in his planned "suicide by cop."

In the darkness, Moench was lying in wait with his guns in the back of his red Ford pickup truck in the driveway of his home at 9740 W. Jewell Place, the affidavit said.

--'Ready to kill a bunch of people'--

When police didn't quickly arrive, Moench called 911 himself at 9:55 p.m.

According to the affidavit, a man identifying himself only as "Gordon" told the 911 call-taker "there is guy outside with a gun, ready to kill a bunch of people."

When the call-taker asked the caller where he was located, he replied, "I'm the guy with the gun."

Gordon said he had three guns -- "enough to hurt a lot of people." He even gave the call-taker his location in the pickup truck.

"The call-taker asked Gordon why he wants to hurt people, and he stated, 'Good question. I tell you what, you'll find out when you get here," according to the affidavit.

A 911 dispatcher relayed the man's warning that he had three guns and "wants to hurt people" to the responding officers, Agent Jonathan Key and Agent Kimberly Collins.

The 32-year-old Key is an eight-year veteran and the 28-year-old Collins has been with the department for two years.

Key, who was driving a marked patrol car, was approaching Moench's home from the west. The agent shut off his headlights as he prepared to stop about four houses from the suspect's home.

Yet, Moench allegedly told police he spotted the patrol car coming down the street, aimed the SKS rifle "high and left," and fired about five shots, the affidavit said.

The shots slammed into the patrol car and at least two bullets pierced the windshield, hitting Key in the arm and the chest. Key, who was wearing a bullet-resistant vest, bailed from the moving patrol car. It kept rolling, sideswiping a parked Subaru Outback before it hit the back of the red pickup.

Moench later told police "he heard a gasping noise from the patrol car" figured he shot the officer, the affidavit said.

--Officer tied a tourniquet on his own arm to 'save his life'--

Key radioed that shots had been fired and he'd been hit. Key saw that he was bleeding heavily from his gunshot wounds. He placed a tourniquet on his arm in effort to stanch the bleeding and "save his life," the affidavit stated.

Meanwhile, Agent Collins had parked her patrol car east of Moench's home and was walking down the sidewalk toward the gunfire.

Moench allegedly fired one shot, shattering Collins' lower leg and causing "severe blood loss," the affidavit stated. He repeatedly told investigators the second officer he shot was a woman.

Moench jumped out of the pickup with the .44-caliber revolver and began walking west on Jewell

At 10:02 p.m, Moench called 911 a second time. When the operator asked the location of his emergency, he replied, "where all the shooting is."

"God I apologize, I hit that cop and now it's too far," he said, according to the affidavit.

--Suspect tells 911 'They're going to have to kill me'--

Moench told the operator he was walking west in the middle of the road, and "has to die now."

The call-taker asked Moench if he could stop and talks to officers, and he replied, "I just shot one," the affidavit said.

He told the call-taker he was not going to stop and talk. "They're going to have to kill me," Moench said, according to the affidavit.

He said he was far from the fallen officers, adding: "Can you get them some help?"

Already, other officers had rushed to Key and Collins and were helping get them transported to the hospital.

Agent Luke Godfrey had responded at the scene while hearing radio reports that two officers had been shot.

Godfrey took position behind a fire truck. But when the fire engine drove off, the agent spotted a man walking down the street, carrying a large revolver.

Godfrey repeatedly ordered the man to drop the gun, the affidavit said. Instead, Moench raised the gun "as if to fire at Agent Godfrey," and the officer fired several shotgun rounds, hitting the suspect in the chest.

Moench was transported to St. Anthony's Hospital, where the wounded officers were being treated.

--Police question man's 'suicide by cop' claim--

At the hospital, Moench agreed to talk to an investigator and signed a form waiving his right to remain silent and have an attorney present.

Moench said was proficient with guns and started shooting when he was 12 years old. He said he also has a conceal carry permit.

Before the investigator asked Moench about the shooting, the man "admitted several times he 'shot two cops' and said he is evil and deserves to go to hell," according to the affidavit.

He talked about climbing into the back of his pickup with the loaded rifle, handgun and shotgun. Moench said he then texted the death-threat to his stepson, but he had no intention of killing the teen.

Instead, Moench said he wanted the stepson to report the threat to police, which would draw them to his home and officers would shoot him in his planned "suicide by cop," the affidavit stated.

The investigator asked Moench "why he brought so many guns and ammunition if he intended to commit suicide by cop, and he explained he wanted officers to perceive him as a threat, not someone trying to commit suicide."

The investigator asked Moench about his intent when he fired at the officers.

"Gordon claimed he wanted the police to shoot and kill him and fired at them only to 'get their attention,'" the investigator wrote in the affidavit.

"It was brought to his attention he shot both officers in an ambush-style attack, never allowing them any opportunity to shoot him, which according to him was his ultimate goal. Gordon was unable to describe his logic and/or tactics or explain how the police could have possibly ended his life in the manner he desired, given the ambush," the investigator noted in the affidavit."

Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.